Riding on a strong commitment to health safety and zero tolerance to distracted driving, SaveLIFE Foundation and Vodafone India also released a study on the theme of “Safety in Mobility” in New Delhi. The report was released by P. Balaji, Director, External Affairs, Regulatory & CSR, Vodafone India; Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; and Saji Cherian, Director – Operations, SaveLIFE Foundation.
The study reveals 94 per cent of people acknowledge using mobile phones during driving as being dangerous but 47 per cent of them admit to receiving calls while driving. The study also reveals that 34 per cent of all respondents tend to apply sudden brakes when talking on the phone while driving, while 20 per cent of respondents admit to having had near-miss situations or having experienced road crash due to using mobile phones while driving. 96 per cent of people spoken to, tend to feel unsafe as passengers if the driver was using mobile phone while driving.
Exhorting Indians to follow model road safety norms and set an example to the rest of the world, P. Balaji, Director – Regulatory, External Affairs, Regulatory & CSR, Vodafone India said, “From a CSR and sustainability perspective too, Vodafone has taken the lead in engaging with our stakeholders on our best practices health safety and well being, mainly in the domain of road safety. We hope the findings of this first of its kind report will draw focus to the perils of ignoring road safety norms and help save lives by getting citizens to use the convenient mobile app.”
Saji Cherian, director, Operations, SaveLIFE Foundation said, “This study is path breaking as it categorically confirms for the first time that use of mobile phones while driving is rampant in India. The focus is also on solving the problem by launching Road Safe mobile application that will help drivers remain distraction-free while driving.”
